In Carroll County, they're trying to play a city game in mostly rural and farming communities and it's a constant uphill struggle.
No one is more aware of that situation than North Carroll basketball coach Troy Warehime, who sits up in Hampstead and just shakes his head.
"Until society changes, we're going to have problems with basketball at North Carroll," said Warehime. "Basketball is a city sport and we live in a farming and rural area. My kids play some basketball in the summer, but they also play two or three other sports. They can play indoor soccer at Four Seasons Sports Complex [just outside of Hampstead], and the smaller kids can play indoor baseball at Four Seasons."
All those extra indoor sports for older and younger boys decrease Warehime's chances of getting some "gym rats" who want to play the game year round like they do in the city.
And if a gym rat comes along, there is only one outdoor court available for him to play on in the summer and in his spare time, according to Warehime.
"When I was a kid, I played sports other than basketball," said Warehime, who grew up in Hampstead and was an outstanding player at North Carroll. "But I spent my extra time on basketball. I played with my friends every chance I got. Today, basketball doesn't seem to be a priority for these kids."
It is easy to see why Warehime is so gloom on the eve of the 1994-95 high school season.
His Panthers are coming off a 3-18 record and he only has one starter (Jason Glover) back from that team. The best player in the school -- Bruce Wright -- is sitting out the season because of an eligibility problem.
Wright averaged 16 points a game for North Carroll last season after transferring from St. Paul's School after the ninth grade. Wright and Warehime figured Wright had three years of eligibility left.
But the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association has ruled that Wright only had two years remaining because he had played in some games for Carroll Christian Academy as a ninth-grader before transferring to St. Paul's and starting over the ninth grade.
"We didn't think those games at Carroll Christian would count as a season for Bruce," said Warehime. "But the MPSSAA said they do and he has only one year eligibility left. Bruce would rather play next year when we should have a better team and he is a senior in school."
That leaves Warehime with basically last season's starting junior varsity team on the court this year against the likes of Thomas Johnson, Frederick, Westminster and South Carroll.
Ouch!
Francis Scott Key in Uniontown stands in an even smaller rural and farming community than Hampstead, and traditionally has taken a lot of beatings in basketball.
But guess what?
Coach Jeff Cook is blessed this season with one of those rare "up cycle" teams for his school and he isn't complaining at all.
No wonder.
There are some who believe Key (8-12 last season) might be the best basketball team in Carroll county this season.
Liberty coach Scott Kohr is more or less in the same boat as Warehime at North Carroll.
The Lions have only one returning starter from last season -- Jeff Janyska -- but Liberty was 8-12 last year.
Also, Kohr has a couple of transfers from other schools who could help out and one player (6-foot-3 Matt Krivoniak) who is returning to basketball after sitting out two seasons.
South Carroll, the last Carroll County school that made it to the state finals in Cole Field House (1989), lost a lot of players from last season's 10-10 team and will be inexperienced.
South Carroll was the only county team to have a .500 record last season.
Cavaliers coach Jim Carnes prefers not to dwell on the plight of trying to coach a city game in a rural area.
But Carnes admitted: "I wouldn't consider Carroll County a basketball hotbed."
Westminster, which sits in the most heavily populated area in the county, still has to get by with players who prefer two or more sports and don't devote a summer or winter to the game.
But veteran Owls coach Dave Byers (10-12 last season) has accepted that situation.
"I know that Thomas Johnson's players compete in 30 or 40 summer league games with someone other than their coach coaching them. They're good kids who like to play the game 12 months a year and I respect them for it," said Byers. "We just need to make up for it with a lot of hard work when we get our kids for three and a half months. I don't begrudge anybody of their success if they want to work hard for it. I admire them."
Sure, Byers would like to have the luxury of having a few 12-month-a-year players, but he loves the challenge of trying to beat a Thomas Johnson or a Montgomery Blair with less-talented players.
"I'm proud of the fact that we beat Thomas Johnson a couple of years ago and we took Montgomery Blair to overtime before losing," he said. "If talent is all that counts, why play the game?"
While Westminster and South Carroll are content to continue playing the likes of Thomas Johnson and Frederick twice a year in basketball in the Central Maryland Conference, North Carroll and Liberty would prefer the sometimes-talked about merger of the CMC and the Monocacy Valley Athletic League.
Thomas Johnson basketball coach and athletic director Tom Dickman has proposed that the seven-team CMC and the 10-team MVAL merge and expand into a 21-team league with three seven-team divisions.
Teams would compete in divisions based on their ability in each sport instead of their size. Schools could request to change divisions every two years.
For instance, North Carroll and Liberty could play in a seven-team basketball division with Francis Scott Key, Brunswick, Poolesville, Smithsburg and Boonsboro.
Westminster and South Carroll most likely would be aligned in a seven-team basketball division with Thomas Johnson, Frederick, Linganore, Walkersville and Middletown.
"Re-organization of the CMC and MVAL is needed," said Warehime. "It's our only way out now."
Cook at Francis Scott Key doesn't agree.
His school is the only county team in the MVAL and he wants to stay there. The other four schools play in the CMC.
"We have a good league and they [North Carroll and Liberty in the CMC] don't," said Cook. "That's why they want to do it [merge]."